Penn GSE News
How Large-School Improvement Works
As schools nationwide struggle to improve student achievement, educational experts and pundits propose competing models of leadership, with some placing responsibility on principals, some on teachers, and still others on parents.
Jonathan Supovitz, a professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that leadership for educational improvement comes from the top-that is, the school district.
Writing in his recent book "The Case for District-Based Reform," Dr. Supovitz looks at the case of Duval County, Florida, to shed light on the role of the school district in enacting large-scale reform.
In 1999, under the superintendancy of retired Air Force Major General John Fryer, the Duval County school system set out to improve every school in the district. Over the next five years, the district achieved stunning results that have drawn nationwide attention.
In examining what happened in the Duval County schools, Dr. Supovitz explains, "School district leaders ... must make a concerted effort to employ the central lever that is in their power to improve student learning-the fulcrum of instructional improvement."
Dr. Supovitz distinguishes this tactic from the more common scenario in which school superintendents "cede instructional authority to school leaders, who in turn may pass it on to individual teachers."
Richard Elmore, a professor of educational leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education, has described this book as "a wise and practical analysis of how school improvement works, at the school and district level. Supovitz shows us the successful practice of instructional leadership in a real setting with real problems and constraints. This is a basic source for anyone interested in large-scale school improvement."
CONTACT: Jill DiSanto-Haines, jdisanto@pobox.upenn.edu, 215-898-4820
Jonathan Supovitz, a professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that leadership for educational improvement comes from the top-that is, the school district.
Writing in his recent book "The Case for District-Based Reform," Dr. Supovitz looks at the case of Duval County, Florida, to shed light on the role of the school district in enacting large-scale reform.
In 1999, under the superintendancy of retired Air Force Major General John Fryer, the Duval County school system set out to improve every school in the district. Over the next five years, the district achieved stunning results that have drawn nationwide attention.
In examining what happened in the Duval County schools, Dr. Supovitz explains, "School district leaders ... must make a concerted effort to employ the central lever that is in their power to improve student learning-the fulcrum of instructional improvement."
Dr. Supovitz distinguishes this tactic from the more common scenario in which school superintendents "cede instructional authority to school leaders, who in turn may pass it on to individual teachers."
Richard Elmore, a professor of educational leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education, has described this book as "a wise and practical analysis of how school improvement works, at the school and district level. Supovitz shows us the successful practice of instructional leadership in a real setting with real problems and constraints. This is a basic source for anyone interested in large-scale school improvement."
CONTACT: Jill DiSanto-Haines, jdisanto@pobox.upenn.edu, 215-898-4820